ABOUT ORKESTRA ANd OTher things
What is it? Why orkestra? human or animal, left or right, mystical or normal? Art or nature We always have to choose
the two eyed king is our guide
we can be both, we can be all
BS: Ok the website looks sexy but who or what is Orkestra?
AD&KD: Orkestra Is the couple councillors waiting room where the estranged lovers Mr Culture and Miss Nature can once again be reunited in unholy matrimony. The 2000 year old divorce has been heavy on us all and we are bored as fuck of listening to to the moans and groans on either side.
So in our adolescent state we are trying to bulld a place free (not entirely free) to all, where you can come from any field of culture to flirt, play, smash, dance, remix, colllde and experiment with different ways of collaborating with Natures abundance. This Is where culture and nature re-learn how to tango together…and its going to be beautiful my friend!!!
We work with many different partners to symbiotically create a kaleidoscope of ideas and experiences. From Animal tracking courses to fermenting masterclasses, Artists in rehab residencies to Rewilding leadership programs, Sculpture gardens of decay to Music in wilderness expeditions.., what will underpin it all is a nature hooligan desire to radically and creatively shift how we interact with and understanding the living world around us…. We are going to make nature great again —not in a nostalgic way, but as the most inspiring artist we’ve ever seen. This is maybe the greatest challenge our culture faces in these most mental of times.
BS: Well this sounds great but who are you and practically speaking where are you
AD&KD: Yes these are actually really good questions. Your a pro!
Firstly the place itsell….We are located to the west of Picos de Europa, a mountain range in the north of Spain.
At Orkestra’s core Is an art Hotel situated in 9 hectares of stunningly diverse Asturian habitat.
The hotel has 12 full-board rooms to accommodate all kinds of seekers. It has a professional kitchen, large dining room and 40sqm Library for lectures and rest. The land is made up of orchards, 400 sqm vegetable garden, a flock of sheep, free range chickens, a multitude of wild animals, a river, pond systems, woodland, scrub and in every direction supports spectacular views of the Picos de Europa. This is all situated 20mins from a Jurassic coastline and 10 mins from rugged and wild 300 million year old limestone peaks…..Theres no reason not to come!!
-Ok so who are we… we are a family of 4 consisting of 3 generations.
Aukje Dekker
I am a visual artist working through collaboration as both a method and a worldview. My work often explores how systems function collectively and how authorship, control and hierarchy can dissolve when people, environments and situations interact.
Humor and self-mockery play an important role in my practice as tools to destabilize ideas of significance. Across projects such as the experimental nightclub SEXYLAND World in Amsterdam, the Eddie the Eagle Museum and the children’s art series Moonriders (VPRO), I have worked with formats that blur the boundaries between art, participation and social structures.
Recently I moved with my partner, wilderness guide and animal tracker Kristian de la Riva, 12 yr old son and Bolivian mother in law from Amsterdam to Northern Spain to develop a new long-term project: Hotel Orkestra, an art and wildlife project situated within a forest landscape in Asturias. At Orkestra we explore collaboration beyond the human sphere, working with ecological systems, landscape, animals and natural processes as active participants rather than as passive context.
Aukje Dekker – Visual Artist & Cultural Curator
As a visual artist and founder of Sexyland; a cultural platform bullt on exchange, fluldity, and inclusion, I explore how environments shape identity, community, and play.
At Orkestra I bring this ethos into the landscape-curating a sculpture garden where art and nature exist as one. Here, Installations grow, decay, and evolve. It is not a static gallery but a living, breathing collaboration with the land itself.My work challenges conventions, and Orkestra is no dilferent. it is a place where creativity is not contined to a studio, where nature is not separate from art, and where every interaction is an experiment in reciprocity.
I used to think I’d be the weak link in a nature project. I owned a nightclub. I still smoke and drink. But actually, I’m proof that nature isn’t reserved for the consciously virtuous. I belong to it as much as anyone. And when I’m vibing with our chickens or sheep, it just makes sense-! don’t want to eat them.
Kristian de la Riva – Wildemess Guide
A nature guide’s role is to ignite curlosity and deepen connections to the world around us.
Growing up in a city, I underestimated our rellance on natural systems. My journey into the wild has been one of rediscovery, and through Orkestra, I hope to share that experlence with others.
I bring expertise from gulding in South Africa and Europe, combining deep wilderness adventures with an appreciation for the unnoticed ecosystems in our everyday lives. Both extremes hold value-one grounding us in the present, the other reminding us of what we’ve forgotten.
Sol de la Riva – child of 12
His role Is to keep us etemally grounded and humble via his teenage acidic wit and his inexhaustible need to test his boundarles. Thank you for the leaming experlence of a lifetime Sol x
Abuela – Is the generational lynchpin of Orkestra, the pacha mama that brings a powertul understated drive that comes from a different era
Together we are the founders of Orkestra